Still Here
by StJost
Summary: A certain blue and green duo wonders if joining the side of good was really the right choice.
1. Feeling Blue

AN: I've recently been looking through old files one my computer (I'm in the process of digitizing all my notes for stories, art, etc.) and I found this huddled under some recipes and sillyness from years ago. If I remember correctly, this was started by an iPod shuffle challenge to the song "I'm Still Here' by the Goo Goo Dolls. I figured it has been a VERY long time since I uploaded anything and I kinda liked the way this turned out. As a sidenote, I consider these two chapters to be a one-shot and complete, so if you're hoping for a story to follow them, no such luck. :( Hell, I haven't even finished the other multi-chapter story I started! (I swear, guys, I'll work on it again some day.)

_Still Here, _Ch. 1

He huffed and slammed the door behind him, leaving the Middleton Board of Education behind him. He shifted the heavy invention under his arm into a more comfortable position and stalked out of the Middleton Institute of Technology. How dare they laugh at him? _Again!_ It was impossible to please these people!

He tossed the equipment in the back of the hover car, seriously considering chucking it on the way back home. What good was it anyway? Its intended purpose had just become the laughing stock of a room full of soggy old geezers who couldn't accept a change if it was their dirty Depends. Jamming the key into the ignition, Drakken growled quietly as the hover car roared to life. He paused for a moment, idling just above the blacktop. Why was being on the right side of the law so difficult? He slumped his forehead on the steering wheel. Ever since the Lowardian incident…everything had changed. He'd found himself working for a bunch of stuffed chickens in suits. He didn't have any freedom to invent what he wanted to anymore. Now he had to be careful about things like 'budgets' and 'ethical standards.' It was just one, big hassle. He hated being 'good.'

He sat up, blinking a few times as he looked around the interior of the hover car. Somehow, it felt like just being able to admit that to himself changed the look of things. Changed _his_look on things. Leaning over to the passenger's side, he jerked open the glove box. Rifling through extra napkins and owner's manuals, he dug out his cell phone. Scanning through his short contacts list, his finger hovered over 'Send.' His hand was shaking. He needed to think rationally about this. If he made the call, if he'd be on the run again. He'd have to find a new lair, new henchmen…new everything. And everything would be back to the way it used to be. He realized he was holding his breath and let it out in a long whoosh. Glancing at the university again, he pressed the button.


	2. Green with Envy

_Still Here_, Ch. 2

Somewhere on a beach in Miami, a pale woman lay on the beach in a black bikini as a masseuse rubbed tanning lotion onto her back. Her bright green eyes were closed behind her designer sunglasses and she listlessly drew designs in the sands with her fingers. It was nice being able to lounge on the beach whenever she pleased. She didn't have to worry about bodyguards, or the screaming populace, or any of that. At the same time, though, she couldn't help but feel…bored. She knew she shouldn't, but she really wanted to- to- do _something_other than _tan_ day in and day out. She really wanted to break the law. She didn't even care if it was a big law. She could steal a candy bar for all she cared. But she knew that if she even chanced it, all that infamy and hate would come rushing back. One little slip up was all it would take, and she wasn't willing to risk her freedom for something as small as a candy bar. She heard a low humming sound and reached into her bag to grab her cell phone. Flicking the top open, she saw a familiar number flash across the caller ID. Answering, she held it to her ear.

"Hey, Dr. D. How's the budget life treatin' ya?" She couldn't help but smile. She knew he hated his new job. Sure, he loved to invent, but he hated limits. All the same, she was glad he bothered to call every once in a while, anyway, even if they had little to talk about.

"Let's change the subject, shall we?" She could hear the hum of the hovercar in the background and a loud splash as thought something heavy were being tossed into the water. "The Caribbean lair is in decent shape, is it not?" Shego frowned. What did that matter? Lairs were off-limits to them now, anyways.

"Uh, as good as any of the lairs, I suppose. It was too far out in the ocean to get hit by the Lowardians," she noted, looking over her shoulder and shooing the masseuse away, "Why?"

"Well, I'm afraid that the Middleton Institute of Technology and I don't see eye to eye concerning the science department's budget. I'm thinking of expanding." Shego couldn't help but notice that her mouth was hanging open, and she quickly shut it.

"Expanding in a limitless budget, completely unethical, and rampant outsourcing kind of way?"

"Expanding in an early Christmas bonus kind of way." Shego grinned.

"I'll be there in an hour." She closed her phone and shoved it back into her bag. Grabbing it, she left everything else lying on the beach and headed for her car, smiling uncontrollably to herself. This was _way_ bigger than candy bars.


End file.
